Fraud targeting elderly man in Lamia: three arrests, one imprisoned
A 67-year-old man trapped the perpetrators with a bag filled with stones. The Lamia Summary Court convicted all three defendants.
Pensioner traps fraudsters with bag filled with stones and corn
On Friday afternoon, 4 September, an unknown man telephoned a 67-year-old in Lamia on his landline and identified himself as his accountant. According to Dikastiko.gr, he claimed that a "tax authority satellite" was sweeping the area to record property details, and asked the elderly man to immediately collect cash and valuables in a bag and leave it outside his home before the supposed vessel "passed by".
The 67-year-old recognised the fraud from the start and called the Lamia Subdirectorate for the Prosecution and Investigation of Crimes. Following police instructions, he decided to "play the perpetrators' game": he informed them that he had put 12,000 euros and 85 gold sovereigns — with a total value of over 74,000 euros — in the bag, when in reality the bag contained stones and corn.
The trap at the cemetery
The perpetrators asked the elderly man to leave the bag at the village cemetery, beneath a cypress tree. They then called him again and asked him to change the delivery location: this time to the cemetery fountain. The 67-year-old assured them he had followed the instructions, without actually going to the location. The result: the three perpetrators found themselves directly confronted by police.
Two men, aged 34 and 43, were arrested immediately upon being spotted moving towards the cypress tree. They were travelling in a black Jeep with Athens licence plates, located near the cemetery. Later, at the fountain where the bag was supposed to be, a 28-year-old woman was arrested on foot — her mobile phone contained active navigation from the village square to the cemetery.
Fake licence plates and Google Maps searches
Police inspection revealed that the two men had affixed fake licence plates with magnets over the genuine plates of their vehicle. Their mobile phones contained Google Maps searches for the village, its square and hotels in Lamia.
Summary trial — the implausible claims
The case was tried on Monday, 7 September at the Lamia Summary Court. The defendants' claims were striking. The two men claimed they had nothing to do with fraud and that they found themselves in the village by chance: they had travelled from Athens towards Karpenissi to search for scrap cars, and at the same time were looking to find a piglet for food — they claimed they got lost on the village roads.
The 28-year-old stated that she had gone to the area on the instructions of an acquaintance to collect some folders without knowing what they contained. She added that she was being blackmailed, as this person had threatened to publicise personal photographs and videos if she did not follow his orders.
Convictions and sentences
The court found all three defendants guilty.
The 34-year-old was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months imprisonment for attempted fraud and falsification. The court decided the sentence would not be suspended and an appeal would have no suspensory effect, leading to his immediate imprisonment. He had recently been released and carried a serious criminal record with convictions spanning multiple decades for armed robbery, criminal organisation and weapons offences.
The 43-year-old passenger in the Jeep was sentenced to a total of 2 years and 9 months imprisonment for attempted fraud and falsification. He was recognised as having a mitigating factor of previous honest conduct, his appeal received suspensory effect and his sentence was converted to a monetary sentence of 10 euros per day.
The 28-year-old was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for attempted fraud. With recognition of the same mitigating factor, her sentence was also converted to 10 euros per day and her appeal received suspensory effect.
Additionally, the court ordered the confiscation and seizure of the Jeep, as well as the mobile telephones that were used to commit the offences.
Source: Dikastiko.gr